REVIEW 4 major objections 5 minor 53 references
Demonstration of the third-order nonlinear Hall effect in topological Dirac semimetal NiTe$_2$
T0 review · 4 major / 5 minor · reviewed 2026-08-08 · deepseek-v4-flash
Pith's one-line read The paper reports a field-independent third-harmonic transverse Hall voltage in the Dirac semimetal NiTe2 and identifies it as the third-order nonlinear Hall effect.
desk verdict Plausible but incomplete evidence for third-order NLHE in NiTe2; missing Vxx^3ω control and I^3 fit keep it from being conclusive. read the letter →
The pith
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
The reading
What carries the argument
The central object is the Berry connection polarizability tensor $\tilde{G} = \partial A(\mathbf{k})/\partial E$, which describes how the Berry connection $A(\mathbf{k})$ is modified by an applied electric field. In the second-order nonlinear Hall effect the Berry connection is field-independent, but here the field modulation produces a field-induced Berry curvature $\Omega_E = \nabla_\mathbf{k} \times A(\mathbf{k},E)$, which yields a transverse voltage at the third harmonic. Because bulk NiTe2 preserves both inversion and time-reversal symmetry, the Berry-curvature-dipole mechanism for the second-order effect is suppressed, so the finite $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$ response is attributed to this higher-order Berry-connection-polarizability mechanism.
What would settle it
Measure the longitudinal third-harmonic voltage $V_{xx}^{3\omega}$ in the same contact geometry at the same currents and temperatures; if $V_{xx}^{3\omega}$ is comparable to $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$, or if the 3ω transverse signal is not antisymmetric under voltage-probe swap, the third-order Hall assignment fails.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
In two NiTe2 single-crystal flakes measured by four-point lock-in transport at 1.4-4.2 K, the transverse third-harmonic voltage $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$ grows monotonically with the alternating current amplitude up to 3.85 mA, reaching 30-100 nV without saturation. The transverse second-harmonic signal $V_{xy}^{2\omega}$ is only 5-20 nV and nearly coincides with the longitudinal $V_{xx}^{2\omega}$, which the authors take as evidence that the 2ω response is a geometry-limited longitudinal contribution. Sweeping the magnetic field between ±0.5 T at fixed current leaves $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$ unchanged, in contrast to the field-dependent first-order and second-order Hall effects. The authors read this as a third-order nonlinear Hall effect generated by field-induced Berry curvature arising from the Berry connection polarizability.
Load-bearing premise
The central claim collapses if the measured $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$ is a longitudinal nonlinear response leaking into the transverse contacts instead of a genuine Hall component.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- If the assignment is correct, NiTe2 becomes a second Dirac semimetal, after Cd3As2, showing the third-order nonlinear Hall effect, so the effect is not a single-material accident.
- The independence of $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$ from the magnetic field up to ±0.5 T gives an experimental fingerprint that cleanly separates the third-order nonlinear Hall effect from the field-dependent first-order and second-order Hall responses.
- The negligibly small second-harmonic transverse signal in the same samples is consistent with the inversion symmetry of bulk NiTe2 and with the predicted suppression of the Berry-curvature-dipole mechanism.
- Because the response appears in thick flakes and is stable over cooling cycles and from 1.4 K to 4.2 K, it is a bulk transport property rather than a fragile surface or contact artifact.
Reading between the lines
- Extension: a direct longitudinal control for the third harmonic, $V_{xx}^{3\omega}(I)$, would close the gap between the stated Hall assignment and the displayed data; if it tracks $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$, the Hall interpretation would be in doubt.
- Extension: at low drive amplitudes a true third-order response should scale as $I^3$; checking the measured exponent would distinguish the Berry-connection mechanism from Joule-heating or capacitive artifacts that can appear at 3ω.
- Extension: comparing the sign and angular dependence of $V_{xy}^{3\omega}$ against a $\tilde{G}$-tensor calculation for NiTe2 would test the Berry-connection-polarizability mechanism quantitatively rather than only by symmetry exclusion.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The paper reports low-temperature four-point transport measurements on NiTe2 single crystals. The authors measure the first-, second-, and third-harmonic voltage components in a circular contact geometry and report a third-harmonic transverse voltage Vxy^3ω that is an order of magnitude larger than the second-harmonic Vxy^2ω, and that is independent of magnetic field up to ±0.5 T. They attribute Vxy^3ω to the third-order nonlinear Hall effect predicted for Dirac semimetals with preserved inversion and time-reversal symmetry, arising from the Berry connection polarizability tensor. The second-harmonic response is found to be negligibly small, consistent with the centrosymmetric structure, and the longitudinal and transverse second-harmonic components are shown to coincide in magnitude, which the authors interpret as a geometry check.
Significance. If the central identification is correct, the experiment provides evidence for the third-order nonlinear Hall effect in a type-II Dirac semimetal, complementing the earlier observation in Cd3As2 and supporting a material-independent, topological origin. The observed magnetic-field independence of Vxy^3ω is a potentially useful discriminator from first- and second-order Hall effects. The paper is concise, the measurements are shown for two samples, and the data are presented in a reproducible format. The main weakness is that the evidence for the transverse, Hall nature of the third-harmonic signal is incomplete: the longitudinal third-harmonic control is not shown, the probe-swap antisymmetry is only asserted, and no cubic current-scaling test is reported.
major comments (4)
- [Section III, Figs. 2 and 3] The central identification of Vxy^3ω as a Hall effect requires demonstrating that the third-harmonic transverse voltage is genuinely transverse and antisymmetric under probe swap, not a longitudinal nonlinear response leaking into the transverse contacts. The paper provides a longitudinal-versus-transverse comparison only for the second harmonic (Fig. 3(a), Vxx^2ω ≈ Vxy^2ω), which the authors interpret as a geometry check, and states without displaying that the voltage is antisymmetric under probe swap (Section II). No Vxx^3ω versus I data are shown. Since the 2ω control shows that the contact geometry can produce comparable longitudinal and 'transverse' components, the same contamination mechanism could equally affect the 3ω signal. Please provide the Vxx^3ω(I) comparison and display the probe-swap antisymmetry data for the third harmonic.
- [Section III, Fig. 2] The third-order nature of the effect is not established by the lock-in harmonic alone. The predicted third-order nonlinear Hall voltage scales as Vxy^3ω ∝ I^3, but the manuscript reports no power-law fit to the data in Fig. 2 and does not state the extracted exponent. Without demonstrating cubic scaling, a 3ω component could arise from a second-order process combined with a nonlinear contact or from heating effects. Please fit Vxy^3ω(I) to I^n and report the exponent for both samples.
- [Section III, Fig. 3(b)] The magnetic-field independence claim is restricted to the transverse component. A longitudinal third-harmonic leakage would also be essentially magnetic-field-independent in this geometry, so the B-sweep does not by itself distinguish a Hall response from a longitudinal artifact. Showing Vxx^3ω(B) under the same conditions would close this gap and make the 'new observation' of B-independence robust.
- [Section IV and abstract] The statement that the measured signal 'well corresponds to the theoretically predicted third-order nonlinear Hall effect' is not backed by a quantitative comparison. The paper neither computes the expected magnitude of Vxy^3ω for NiTe2 nor compares the measured current dependence with a model. Please either add an order-of-magnitude estimate from the Berry-connection-polarizability theory or soften the claim to 'consistent with' rather than 'well corresponds to'.
minor comments (5)
- [Abstract and Section I] The phrase 'does not expected' should be 'is not expected'; the same grammatical issue appears in the abstract and conclusion.
- [Section II] The phrase 'bee verified' should be 'been verified'.
- [Fig. 3(b) caption] The caption reads 'The third-harmonic voltage V 2ω xy signal dependence'; this should be V^3ω_xy. The same typo appears in the text describing Fig. 3(b).
- [References] References 2, 3, 27, 41, 43, and 48 are given as arXiv identifiers only; please provide published journal citations where available.
- [Section II] The description of the contact geometry would be clearer if the figure indicated which contacts correspond to the current and ground leads and which to Vxx and Vxy; consider adding this directly to Fig. 1(a).
Circularity Check
No circularity: the third-harmonic Hall claim is an unparameterized experimental test of an external theory; self-citations are limited to sample preparation and technique.
full rationale
The paper derives no result from its own output. Its central claim is that a measured third-harmonic transverse voltage Vxy^3ω corresponds to the theoretically predicted third-order nonlinear Hall effect, with the theory (Berry connection polarizability tensor G-tilde) cited from external groups (Refs. 14-20). No parameter is fitted to a subset of the data and then relabeled as a prediction; the Vxy^3ω trace is a direct lock-in measurement, and the magnetic-field independence is an unparameterized observation. The authors' own references appear only for sample synthesis, contact quality, and material characterization (Refs. 30, 33-38) and, in Refs. 7 and 10, as examples of field-dependent second-harmonic Hall responses in other materials used for contrast; none of these citations supplies the load-bearing assertion that Vxy^3ω is the third-order NLHE. No equation in the paper reduces to an input by construction. The absence of a displayed Vxx^3ω comparison or an explicit I^3 scaling is a legitimate experimental-control concern, but missing controls are correctness risks, not circularity. The paper is therefore self-contained with respect to its central claim, and the self-citations present are not load-bearing.
Assumptions & free parameters
assumptions (3)
- domain assumption NiTe2 is a three-dimensional type-II Dirac semimetal with bulk Dirac points.
- domain assumption NiTe2 is centrosymmetric (space group P-3m1).
- domain assumption The third-harmonic transverse voltage is a Hall-type response separable from the longitudinal response by the contact geometry and probe-swap antisymmetry.
Cite this review
Pith. "Pith review of Demonstration of the third-order nonlinear Hall effect in topological Dirac semimetal NiTe$_2$." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/SQOOMS7L
@misc{pith2026250208223,
author = {Pith},
title = {Pith review of: Demonstration of the third-order nonlinear Hall effect in topological Dirac semimetal NiTe$_2$},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/SQOOMS7L}},
note = {Machine review of arXiv:2502.08223}
}
abstract
We experimentally investigate third-order nonlinear Hall effect for three-dimensional NiTe$_2$ single crystal samples. NiTe$_2$ is the recently discovered type-II Dirac semimetal, so both the inversion and the time-reversal symmetries are conserved in the bulk. As a result, the well known second-order nonlinear Hall effect does not expected for this material, which we confirm as negligibly small second-harmonic transverse Hall voltage response to the longitudinal ac electric current. As the main experimental result, we demonstrate the unsaturated third-harmonic Hall response in NiTe$_2$, which well corresponds to the theoretically predicted third-order nonlinear Hall effect in Dirac semimetals. We also demonstrate, that the third harmonic signal does not depend on the external magnetic field, in contrast to the field-depended first-order and second-order Hall effects.
Figures
Reference graph
Works this paper leans on
-
[1]
Sodemann and L
I. Sodemann and L. Fu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 216806 (2015)
2015
-
[2]
Field-induced Berry connection and planar Hall effect in tilted Weyl semimetals
YuanDong Wang, Zhen-Gang Zhu, Gang Su. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2303.03579
-
[3]
Extrinsic nonlinear acoustic valley Hall effect in the massive Dirac materials
Jia-Liang Wan, Ying-Li Wu, Ke-Qiu Chen, Xiao-Qin Yu. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2501.05698
- [4]
-
[5]
Cong Xiao, Z. Z. Du and Qian Niu, Phys. Rev. B 100, 165422 – Published 28 October, 2019
work page 2019
-
[6]
An-Qi Wang, Dong Li, Tong-Yang Zhao, Xing-Yu Liu, Jiantian Zhang, Xin Liao, Qing Yin, Zhen-Cun Pan, Peng Yu, Zhi-Min Liao, Phys. Rev. B 110, 155434 – Published 24 October, 2024
work page 2024
-
[7]
O. O. Shvetsov, V. D. Esin, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov, and E. V. Deviatov, Jetp Lett. 109, 715–721 (2019)
work page 2019
-
[8]
A. Tiwari, F. Chen, Sh. Zhong, E. Drueke, J. Koo, A. Kaczmarek, C. Xiao, J. Gao, X. Luo, Q. Niu, Y. Sun, B. Yan, L. Zhao and A. W. Tsen, Nat. Commun. 12, 2049 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-22343-5
Show all 53 references
-
[9]
N. N. Orlova, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov, and E. V. Deviatov, Chinese Physics Letters 40, 077302 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1088/0256-307X/40/7/077302
2023 doi
-
[10]
V. D. Esin, A. A. Avakyants, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov and E. V. Deviatov. 2022 Chinese Phys. Lett. 39 097303
2022
-
[11]
T. Low, Y. Jiang, and F. Guinea, Physical Review B 92, 235447 (2015)
2015
-
[12]
J. E. Moore and J. Orenstein, Phys. Rev. Lett., 105, 026805 (2010)
2010
-
[13]
Yang Zhang, Yan Sun and Binghai Yan. Phys. Rev. B 97, 041101(R) – Published 3 January, 2018
2018
-
[14]
Yang, and Qian Niu
Yang Gao, Shengyuan A. Yang, and Qian Niu. Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 166601 – Published 25 April, 2014
2014
-
[15]
Yang and Qian Niu
Yang Gao Shengyuan A. Yang and Qian Niu. Phys. Rev. B 91, 214405 – Published 3 June, 2015
2015
-
[16]
Yang, Phys
Huiying Liu, Jianzhou Zhao, Yue-Xin Huang, Xiaolong Feng, Cong Xiao, Weikang Wu, Shen Lai, Wei-bo Gao and Shengyuan A. Yang, Phys. Rev. B 105, 045118 – Published 14 January, 2022
2022
-
[17]
Tanay Nag, Sanjib Kumar Das, Chuanchang Zeng and Snehasish Nandy, Phys. Rev. B 107, 245141 – Published 28 June, 2023
2023
-
[18]
Longjun Xiang, Chao Zhang, Luyang Wang and Jian Wang. Phys. Rev. B 107, 075411 – Published 10 February, 2023
2023
-
[19]
Phys.: Condens
Saswata Roy and Awadhesh Narayan 2022 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 34 385301
2022
-
[20]
Lai, S., Liu, H., Zhang, Z. et al. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16, 869–873 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-021-00917-0
2021 doi
-
[21]
As a recent review see N. P. Armitage, E. J. Mele, and A. Vishwanath, Rev. Mod. Phys. 90, 15001 (2018)
2018
-
[22]
Tong-Yang Zhao, An-Qi Wang, Xing-Guo Ye, Xing-Yu Liu, Xin Liao and Zhi-Min Liao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 186302 – Published 1 November, 2023
2023
-
[23]
Dushyant Kumar, Chuang-Han Hsu, Raghav Sharma, Tay-Rong Chang, Peng Yu, Junyong Wang, Goki Eda, Gengchiau Liang and Hyunsoo Yang, Nature Nanotechnology 16, 421-425, doi:10.1038/s41565-020-00839-3 (2021)
2021 doi
-
[24]
Lujin Min, Hengxin Tan, Zhijian Xie, Leixin Miao, Ruoxi Zhang, Seng Huat Lee, Venkatraman Gopalan, Chao-Xing Liu, Nasim Alem, Binghai Yan and Zhiqiang Mao, Nature Communications volume 14, 364 (2023)
2023
-
[25]
Terahertz detection based on nonlinear Hall effect without magnetic field
Zhang Y, Fu L. Terahertz detection based on nonlinear Hall effect without magnetic field. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118, e2100736118 (2021)
2021
-
[26]
Yang, Nianze Shang, Kaihui Liu, and Zhi-Min Liao Phys
Xing-Guo Ye, Huiying Liu, Peng-Fei Zhu, Wen-Zheng Xu, Shengyuan A. Yang, Nianze Shang, Kaihui Liu, and Zhi-Min Liao Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 016301 (2023)
2023
-
[27]
Sanjay Sarkar, Amit Agarwal, arXiv:2501.17460
-
[28]
Ghosh, D
B. Ghosh, D. Mondal, C.-N. Kuo, C. S. Lue, J. Nayak, J. Fujii, I. Vobornik, A. Politano, and A. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. B 100, 195134 (2019)
2019
-
[29]
Mukherjee, S
S. Mukherjee, S. W. Jung, S. F. Weber, C. Xu, D. Qian, X. Xu, P. K. Biswas, T. K. Kim, L. C. Chapon, M. D. Watson, J. B. Neaton, and C. Cacho, Scientific Reports 10, 12957 (2020)
2020
-
[30]
Esin, Oleg O
Varnava D. Esin, Oleg O. Shvetsov, Anna V. Timonina, Nikolai N. Kolesnikov and Eduard V. Deviatov, Nanomaterials 12(23), 4114 (2022); https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12234114
2022 doi
-
[31]
C. Xu, B. Li, W. Jiao, W. Zhou, B. Qian, R. Sankar, N. D. Zhigadlo, Y. Qi, D. Qian, F.-C. Chou, and X. Xu, Chem. Mater. 30, 4823 (2018)
2018
-
[32]
Q. Liu, F. Fei, B. Chen, X. Bo, B. Wei, S. Zhang, M. Zhang, F. Xie, M. Naveed, X.Wan, F. Song, and B. Wang, Phys. Rev. B 99, 155119 (2019)
2019
-
[33]
Shvetsov, A
O.O. Shvetsov, A. Kononov, A.V. Timonina, N.N. Kolesnikov, E.V. Deviatov, JETP Letters, 107, 774779 (2018)
2018
-
[34]
O. O. Shvetsov, V. D. Esin, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov, and E. V. Deviatov, Phys. Rev. B 99, 125305 (2019)
2019
-
[35]
Shvetsov, A
O.O. Shvetsov, A. Kononov, A.V. Timonina, N.N. Kolesnikov, E.V. Deviatov, EPL, 124, 47003 (2018)
2018
-
[36]
O. O. Shvetsov, V. D. Esin, Yu. S. Barash, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov, and E. V. Deviatov, Phys. Rev. B 101, 035304 (2020)
2020
-
[37]
O. O. Shvetsov, Yu. S. Barash, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov, E. V. Deviatov JETP Letters, 115, 267–275 (2022). DOI: 10.1134/S0021364022100101
2022 doi
-
[38]
V. D. Esin, D. Yu. Kazmin, Yu. S. Barash, A. V. Timonina, N. N. Kolesnikov, E. V. Deviatov, JETP Letters, 118, 847–854 (2023). DOI: 10.1134/S0021364023603329
2023 doi
-
[39]
C. Fu, Th. Scaffidi, J. Waissman, Y. Sun, R. Saha, S. J. Watzman, A. K. Srivastava, G. Li, W. Schnelle, P. Werner, M. E. Kamminga, S. Sachdev, S. S. P. Parkin, S. A. Hartnoll, C. Felser, and J. Gooth, arXiv: 1802.09468
-
[40]
Zhou, Ch
T. Zhou, Ch. Zhang, H. Zhang, F. Xiu, and Zh. Yang, Inorg. Chem. Front. 3, 1637 (2016)
2016
- [41]
-
[42]
Xing-Guo Ye, Peng-Fei Zhu, Wen-Zheng Xu, Zhihao Zang, Yu Ye and Zhi-Min Liao. Phys. Rev. B 106, 045414 – Published 15 July, 2022
2022
- [43]
-
[44]
Science, 15 Jun 2023., Vol 381., Issue 6654 pp
Anyuan Gao, Yu-Fei Liu, Jian-Xiang Qiu, et all. Science, 15 Jun 2023., Vol 381., Issue 6654 pp. 181-186. DOI: 10.1126/science.adf1506
2023 doi
-
[45]
Nagaosa, J
N. Nagaosa, J. Sinova, S. Onoda, A. H. MacDonald, and N. P. Ong, Rev. Mod. Phys. 82, 1539 (2010)
2010
-
[46]
Hiroki Isobe, Su-Yang Xu, Liang Fu, Sci. Adv. 6, eaay2497 (2020) doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay2497
2020 doi
-
[47]
Jian-Feng Zhang, Yawen Zhao, Kai Liu, Yi Liu and Zhong-Yi Lu . Phys. Rev. B 104, 035111 – Published 6 July, 2021
2021
-
[48]
Debottam Mandal, Kamal Das, Amit Agarwal, arXiv:2201.02505
-
[49]
A. A. Zyuzin and A. Yu. Zyuzin, Phys. Rev. B 95, 085127 (2017). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.95.085127
2017 doi
-
[50]
Chris Dames, Gang Chen., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 124902 (2005)
2005
-
[51]
F. L. Bakker, A. Slachter, J.-P. Adam and B. J. van Wees. Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 136601 – Published 24 September, 2010
2010
-
[52]
Cheng, Y., Cogulu, E., Resnick, R.D. et al. Third harmonic characterization of antiferromagnetic heterostructures. Nat Commun 13, 3659 (2022)
2022
- [53]
Reviewed August 8, 2026 · model on record in the stance chip above.
Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.